


The Price of Starbucks

by acquario



Category: Carol (2015), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: Alternate Universe - Devil Wears Prada, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 19:43:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5678284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acquario/pseuds/acquario
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four times Therese tried to bring Carol coffee and one time she thought that she'd get fired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Price of Starbucks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [etymology](https://archiveofourown.org/users/etymology/gifts).



> This is for A.! Merry Christmas! Merry Late Christmas! Happy New Year! I'm so tired please enjoy this!

It was barely 10.20, and her feet hurt. The week before they had started hurting at 9.00, the week before that at 8.00. Therese thought with regret about her practical, anonymous boots, but the girl sitting at the desk facing her had made a squeak between fear and disgust when she’d noticed them, like one may emit upon seeing a rat, and so out they had gone, replaced by “sensible” heels. There was nothing sensible about them. She discreetly took the heel out of her left shoe, trying to get some relief.

«Therese.» 

Her head shot up, anxious she had been caught in the act. She quickly rose to her feet, knocking a few things off her desk in the process.

«Therese? Come here.» 

The other girl shot her a panicked look, like she was asking her what the hell she thought she was doing, making Carol wait - everyone called Carol  _ Carol _ , and it was just another reason this place was so weird. She quickly made her way to the office door, mouthing “ _ Sorry. _ ” to the girl.

She knocked quietly, twice. «Come in, Therese. You know you don’t have to knock.» 

Carol said her name the French way, keeping it one long, open sound, and Therese hadn’t had the guts to correct her. She was still getting used to it. Everyone else called her  _ Terees _ (everyone except Richard, who called her Terry, but he didn’t really count now, did he?). Still, it felt weirdly definitive, like she wouldn’t want to be called any other way.

She came in, mumbling her apologies so quietly she was sure Carol hadn’t heard them. She was smiling amusedly, though, almost too bright to look at, surrounded by the light coming from the window behind her that made her hair almost white.

«Could you get me some coffee, please?» she asked. Carol was always polite with her employees, she had learned. Even when she fired the last girl for coming in late, she was a shining example of courtesy, giving her the sack with a too-remorseful-to-be-real smile. It was the sort of cold anger Therese feared the most.

«Of course.»

«Thank you.» she said in her low voice, and Therese smiled, fighting the impulse to curtsy before getting out.

«What did she want?» the girl asked when she closed the door behind her.

«Coffee.» she answered. 

«Coffee?» the girl repeated. Therese didn’t remember her name, and she was too ashamed to ask for it now. It started with “E”, maybe?

«Did she tell you what coffee she wants? She changes her order constantly.» 

It suddenly hit her that she should have asked Carol what kind of coffee she wanted. She felt panic rising. «She didn’t.» 

«You’ll have to guess. Good luck.» the girl smiled in what was supposed to be encouragement, too pleased to be genuine.

Therese came back ten minutes later (she had probably taken too much time) with a latte and a blueberry muffin (for all she knew, Carol could’ve been allergic to blueberries), trying to walk as fast as possible with her lended heels on. The girl gave her one look and scoffed and she steeled herself before knocking on Carol’s door.

«Coffee.» she said, entering without waiting an answer. If she had to be fired over a latte, she wanted to get this over with.

Carol raised her eyes from the pictures she was examining, and she let out a happy sigh. «Is that a muffin? I’m starving.» 

Maybe she wouldn’t get fired, after all.

«Blueberry.» she confirmed, and internally squealed when Carol’s smile widened.

«You’re an angel.» she said, giving her a contented look with her crystal-clear eyes. Therese’s heart skipped a beat, and her hands spilled the coffee over the table.

«God!» she swore under her breath and she frantically tried to contain the manage, moving what she was sure were super important pictures out of the way before they could ruined forever. «I’m so so so sorry, I can’t believe this happened. God.»

She was currently covering the mahogany in tissues she had retrieved from the pocket in her dress when two cold, smooth hands closed around her wrists, keeping them still.

«Therese. Stop.» 

Therese immediately stopped moving. Carol’s voice was still smooth, but firm. Therese did not raise her eyes to meet hers.

«It’s fine. I’ll enjoy the muffin.» 

«I’m sorry.» 

«Stop apologising. And look at me.» 

Carol’s hands were still around her wrists. She hoped she wasn’t shaking. She tentatively looked up to Carol’s face, the blond arch of her eyebrows now furrowed in worry or disapprovement. Therese couldn’t tell.

«Thank you for the muffin.» Carol said, and let go of her. «You can go now.» 

Therese nodded.

When she came in the next day, she was surprised to learn she had not been fired.

_ ~ _

After that, Carol started asking her for tea, which drove the girl, Emma, up a wall, because apparently she had never asked for it before.

Still, Therese’s feet had stopped hurting, finally, and bringing her electric kettle to the office had proven to be a winning strategy, so she wasn’t complaining. And Carol always smiled so wonderfully when Therese came in, always at 10.20 sharp. She had soon caught up on the fact that Carol seemed to get bored of everything, with time (she had stopped counting the times she came into the office to find some new kind of furniture), so she had bought a big box of different kinds of tea, and brought a different one every day. Carol preferred the fruity ones, but she couldn’t decide if she liked them with milk or lemon better, so Therese tried to keep them both on hand.

«Therese. I’d like coffee today.» Carol said first thing in the morning a month after the Coffee Incident and Therese looked at the kettle on her desk, already on, and sighed.

In an attempt to ward off bad luck, she asked for a cappuccino this time, with a croissant, and the walk back to the office took twice the time she had used getting there.

Emma smirked when she arrived, but she pretended she hadn’t seen her.

«I got cappuccino and a croissant. I hope it’s alright.» she said as she came in without knocking, as was her new habit, but stopped in her tracks when she saw Carol sitting motionlessly, silently staring at the big clock on the left wall she had bought last week.

She froze for a second, before Carol, seemingly with great effort, moved her eyes to look at her.

«I can come in later.» she heard herself say, without fully having the intention of.

Carol blinked once, as if she had just seen her. She straightened her back. «Don’t be ridiculous. Come here.» 

Therese made her way to Carol’s desk, the tips of her heels clacking on the marble pavement. She carefully left the coffee and croissant on it, and then made to get out, when Carol stopped her. «Sit for a second.», she said, and Therese immediately obeyed, nervously smoothing her dress as she did.

Carol raised her hand elegantly and took the lid off the coffee cup. «Tell me something about you.» she said slowly, with intent, and she added two packets of sugar to it (Therese was glad she had gotten all the supplies).

She was at loss. «Something?» she repeated, stupidly.

Carol didn’t answer, just gave her a look, and Therese cleared her throat. «I went to Catholic school.» 

Carol looked actually surprised. «I thought no one did, these days. At least in New York.» 

«Well, it wasn’t… it was a orphanage, actually. But I’m not an orphan.» Therese blushed. «It’s complicated.» 

The silence stretched for seconds that felt like hours. Carol looked at her with interested yet perplexed eyes, like she was a puzzle to solve without any clue as to what the final picture would be.

«What a strange girl, you are.» she said, in the end.

When Therese came in later to check on a few files, the cappuccino was still on the desk, cold and untouched.

_ ~ _

Emma was more twitchy than usual that day, her leg bouncing up and down as much as her tight skirt would allow her. Therese really didn’t want to get involved: last time she had asked Emma what was going on, she had launched into a twenty minutes rant about her boyfriend, men in general and just what was the problem with them, exactly?, at the end of which Therese, instead of offering empathy and similar experiences, had awkwardly blurted out «I’m a lesbian.», and that had been it.

But apparently they had gotten past the point of asking before oversharing, because as soon as Therese accidentally made eye contact with her, Emma started talking.

«Are you ready for today?» 

Therese snook one quick glance at the calendar: the day was circled several times with a red pen, and a big “R.” of the same colour filled it. 

«I think so?» she wished she hadn’t made it sound like a question.

«You have no idea. God.» 

Therese opened her mouth to protest, but just as quickly closed it when Emma glared at her.

«Today Carol gets her daughter from Mr. Aird, and brings her here. She fired the girl before me because Rindy didn’t like her.» 

«Why?» 

Emma started rummaging through her back, setting several stuffed animals on the desk. «Why do children do anything?» 

«I meant, why did Carol fire her for that.» 

Emma scoffed. «Why does  _ Carol _ do anything.» 

Therese had to admit that was a valid answer.

A coworker’s head poked in and whispered: «She’s coming.». Therese immediately straightened herself, while Emma was smiling so wide it seemed like someone had stitched her into a grimace.

Carol came in, carrying in her arms a tiny, equally blonde girl, apparently immersed in a very important debate on what was the best colour between pink and purple, and why. Therese met Rindy’s eyes, and she stopped talking.

She leaned in to whisper something into her Mum’s ear. Carol’s lips quivered, trying to keep in a laugh. «If she is, she never told me. Why don’t you ask her?», she said. She turned towards Therese, and let Rindy get down.

«Miss.», Rindy said, very proper. Therese looked at Carol, who was smiling fondly.

«Yes?» 

«Are you an elf?» 

Therese’s eyes widened comically. Emma started laughing, but Carol glared at her, so she was quick to turn it into a fit of cough, then she mouthed to Therese “ _ Say something. _ ”

«Uhm, I’m - I’m not an elf.» 

Rindy looked disappointed.

«But my mum is.»,  she added quickly. «That’s why I kinda look like it. She had to give up elf life to have me.» 

She leaned down cospirationally. «But it’s a secret, okay?» 

Rindy nodded solemnly. Behind her, Carol gave her a double thumbs up and blinding smile. Therese felt her heartbeat quicken.

«Why don’t you go ahead in the office, darling?» she said to Rindy. When she was out of sight, she leaned onto Therese’s desk, closer to her than she had ever been. «No coffee today, Therese, or Rindy will want to have some, and God knows we don’t need her more energetic than this.»

Therese nodded, distracted by Carol’s perfume, something fruity and rich and elegant.

«Half-elf, uhm?» Carol added, her eyes narrowed and her lips stretched into an amused smile.

She wanted to bury her face in her hands. «I had to think quickly.» 

«You do look like it.» Carol’s eyes were blue and clear then, suddenly earnest. «You have something… alien about you. Unknown.»

Therese licked her lips, and Carol’s glance flickered down. «Come in later.» she said, abruptly straightened herself.

«What was that?» Emma asked her, as soon as the office’s door slammed behind Carol.

Therese let out a deep breath and sank into her chair.

_ ~ _

After the sun setted, the  _ Alla Moda!  _ building looked and felt like a giant, metallic skeleton, cold and familiar at the same time. Therese didn’t particularly mind staying late. At least here she could felt the ghost of all the people who had been in the office in the morning, could bump into the occasional 100$ sweater abandoned on a chair, or empty cups of coffee resting, forgotten, on equally empty desks. Her small flat, by comparison, had nothing of the lingering livelihood her workplace offered, only pictures of places she wouldn’t go back to or a person who wasn’t in her life anymore.

The fact that she felt at easy in the empty building didn’t mean she didn’t startle when, finally gathering her things, she noticed the lights in Carol’s office were on. Suddenly anxious, she remembered she wasn’t really supposed to be there, and maybe Carol wanted privacy. She opted for a quick and silent retreat.

That was, before she heard something that sounded suspiciously like sobbing coming out of the office doors, and was so surprised she tripped on the shoes she still hadn’t completely gotten used to.

«Who is it?», came Carol’s voice, alarmed. 

«It’s me!», she answered, anxious to identify herself as not-a-thief. «I stayed late. I’m sorry.»

She tried to get up and regain some composure before Carol could see her, but as soon as she put weight on her left foot, she let out a yelp.

«Are you alright?» Carol was in front of her. Therese wondered if the pavement would swallow her.

«I think… I hurt my ankle.» 

Carol laughed. «I’m sorry! I’m sorry. It’s just...» she kneeled down and gently put her arm around Therese’s waist, hoisting her up. «I thought you were a burglar or something.» 

Therese smiled, not trusting her own voice now that she was so close to Carol. She snuck her own arm around Carol’s waist, feeling under her fingers the soft texture of the dress Carol was wearing and her breath, still shaky from laughing.

«Do you need ice?» Carol asked as they limped into her office. Therese shook her head as she was  gently laid into the lips-shaped couch Carol had recently bought, and Carol sat next to her, too far to touch but close enough that Therese could notice that Carol wasn’t wearing any makeup, and a faint sprinkle of freckles covered her cheeks. Her eyes looked red, and Therese remembered she had been crying. She could feel some kind of tension, of anticipation, soak the air around them. Seemingly unaware of the itching on Therese’s skin, Carol pulled a cigarette out of a packet - Therese had never seen her smoke during working hours -, her fingers slightly more fidgety than usual, but still controlled.

«Do you want one?» she offered, nonchalant, and Therese, again, shook her head no. Carol shrugged. She started tinkering with her lighter, that wouldn’t start. After three or four tries, Therese whispered: «Let me.». Reluctantly, Carol handed her the lighter, and Therese, averting her eyes from Carol’s lips, waited until the tip of the cigarette was red.

«Thank you.» Carol said, and leaned down on the couch, sighing a puff of smoke.

«Are you alright?» Therese asked, and immediately regretted it.

«I should be asking you that.» Carol said, still looking up at the ceiling. «Still not used to those death traps, uh?» 

Therese looked mournfully at her heels. «Well, I thought I had.»

«It takes time. You’ll be fine.» Carol offered. Therese stayed silent. «Why are you here, anyway?» 

«I’m… - she stuttered - my home is lonely. I feel more… like I’m alive here.»

Carol looked at her then, and let out a low, warm chuckle. «That makes two of us.» 

The hush stretched. «To be self-conscient, you must be acknowledged by another self-conscient being.» Therese finally said when she felt she could no longer bear the silence.

Carol stopped smoking. «Who said that?» 

Therese felt the tip of her ears redden. «Hegel, I think.» 

«Hegel. Of course.» Carol said, smiling again. «You’re full of surprises.» 

Therese timidly smiled, too. 

«It’s late.» Carol turned the cigarette in the ashtray until it died out, and then turned to her. «Can you walk now?» 

Therese warily tested her left foot. «Yeah, I think so.» 

«I’ll call you a cab.» Carol said, and Therese understood she had been dismissed. She quickly got up and muttered a polite “goodnight” before opening the door.

«Therese?» 

Therese turned towards Carol, one foot out the door. «Tomorrow, when you bring me coffee, take one more and join me, would you?»

Therese smiled excitedly, then. «Yes. I would.» 

Carol smiled too. «Goodnight.» 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for sticking w/ me! im already planning a different fic, so fingers crossed for that. also, you can find me[ here ](http://therezebelivet.tumblr.com)on tumblr, if u wanna say hi


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